Strong defence is way to title

Once they were ten a penny but now a top quality centre-half can set you back £30 million.

Why? Because there are so few of them. Well, so few good ones, which is ironic considering the rate at which the English game used to produce central defenders.

The function of the centre-half has changed over the years but a few good centre-backs have always been able to rise above the natural constrictions of the job and Rio Ferdinand is one of the few good ones in the modern game.

Ferdinand is a central defender who can happily combine art and conflict.

He can fight his corner but is also a strategist and creator, a player who will exert considerable influence on Manchester United's attacking impetus in the next few months.

But, good though he is, can he possibly be worth the money United have agreed to pay Leeds for his services?

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has never been afraid to pay the top price for quality central defenders.

He realised, watching George Graham's titlewinning successes with Arsenal in 1989 and 1991, that the first rule of engagement in the championship race was a water-tight defence.

Ferguson even tried to lure Tony Adams from Highbury but, when that failed, flourished the Old Trafford cheque book and paid Middlesbrough £2.3m for Gary Pallister.

Ten years later he forked out another record breaking fee for a centre-half - £10m for PSV Eindhoven's Jaap Stam.

Neither, though, were the subject of British football's record transfer fee - a distinction now bestowed on a 23-yearold from Peckham whose basic job is to prevent goals being scored.

If he's worth £30m what value would you place on a 23-year-old who can actually score goals?

To date, the most costly players have always been strikers or attacking midfielders.

Strikers Ian Rush, Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes were the most valuable players when United signed Pallister and another striker, Alan Shearer, cost Newcastle £15m two years before Ferguson bought Stam for £10m.

Fifteen years ago the 20 most costly players were all strikers, with the single exception of Kenny Sansom, a £1m full-back signed by Arsenal from Crystal Palace.

What we should hope is that United's extravagance doesn't represent a new benchmark in the transfer market because the rest of the game cannot compete in on their terms.

No one but United could afford to buy and pay the three most expensive players - Ferdinand, Juan Sebastian Veron (£28m) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (£19m) - in the Premiership .

With their financial muscle they should walk away with the Premiership championship this season but I suspect there will be a lot of sniggering up and down the land - and very little sympathy - if it all goes wrong at Old Trafford.